Land surveying is among the oldest professions in the world. Ever since man has decided a part of land should participate in a tribe, the need for surveying began.
Land surveying is fascinating. The methods used seek to decide which part of land belongs to whom, hopefully ending arguments forever.
In a nutshell, surveying is really a process using mathematical means to survey land.
The initial accounts of surveying land goes back to ancient Egypt. Experts have discovered evidences that the ancient Egyptians used basic geometry to redraw the lines of boundary when the Nile River overflowed. An Egyptian land register dating back to 3000 BC was also found.
Following Egyptians, the Romans - also one of the powerful civilizations of the ancient world - practiced land surveying. They took it one step further and made "land surveyor" the official position within the Empire. These were called agrimensores, generally known as Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. Although Check out here used very easy tools, these were very thorough making use of their jobs and would create straight lines and correct angles by using these tools. After the lines were measured, they might create shallow ditches to mark the lines. In fact, some of the furrows they made remain today.
One of many recorded land surveying of the "modern" times is that of William the Conqueror who wrote the Domesday Book in 1086. This book is truly a list of names of land owners, the quantity of land they owned and other information about the land. Although it was an amazing level of information during this time period, the bits of information weren't 100% correct. The locations were not accurate and the maps weren't made to scale.
Among history's greatest icons was also an avid surveyor - Napoleon Bonaparte. The interest in surveying land was really just a product of his desire to conquer the world. Napoleon Bonaparte founded a registry called the cadastre. This consists of a registry of properties of a county, ownership details, locations and as much information about the land's value. Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte can be considered a land surveyor - and a very smart man.
The techniques used for land surveying also have evolved on the centuries. A long time ago, people would use anything that could help them determine the length from one point to another. This implies using chains with links and also ropes. Of course, this didn't give accurate results but they didn't have the technology we now have back then.
Today, land surveyors have the best technologies to help them with their job. There is GPS, or Global Positioning System, that is just about the most accurate technologies being used today. Total stations may also be essential to a land surveyor, which employs the application of an EDM or Electronic Distance Measurement device plus a theodolite that allows for more precise angle and distance measurements.